From skipping long lines for rides at Disney World to checking into your hotel early, opportunities to spend extra for convenience are everywhere
The hottest travel amenity is getting your time back.
Walt Disney World began piloting a new paid service Wednesday that allows visitors to the Florida resort’s four theme parks to bypass regular lines for popular attractions. Vail Resorts introduced a gear membership program meant to let skiers skip rental lines. More hotels are charging for perks like early check-in.
About half of the more than 650 theme parks, zoos and aquariums, monuments and observation decks surveyed by the travel-research firm Arival offered skip-the-line or VIP access tickets in 2024. Of those not offering these options, 18% said they would introduce similar access in 2025.
The trend highlights how cost and comfort are becoming more intermingled for travelers, especially those hitting crowded destinations. And how those with tighter budgets risk ending up worse off.
These offers are often aimed at families. Rochelle Marcus, a stay-at-home mom in Oxford, N.C., says parents have extra incentive to pay up for a pass during school breaks, when crowds are larger.
Disney World’s new service, Lightning Lane Premier Pass, varies in price by park and crowd levels.
The service costs between $129 and $449 on top of the price of admission, with prices tipping upward during peak travel periods. The Premier Pass is only available to visitors staying at Disney World’s deluxe-tier hotels, which can cost upward of $450 a night before discounts or special offers. Disneyland in California has a similar version of the service; both of Disney’s U.S. resorts offer other, cheaper line-jumping options with less flexibility.
Visitors can apply the Premier Pass to eligible attractions whenever they wish, though they can only use it for each ride once a day.
Universal, SeaWorld and Six Flags sell similar upgrades. Some of those services can be used multiple times for the same ride.
The service, says Tay Mauro, a theme-park consultant, could help streamline planning a Disney vacation, especially for first-time visitors.
Many theme-park fans have criticized the Premier Pass’s cost on social media and online forums. Some counter that the price range could make it an affordable alternative to Disney’s VIP tour offerings that cost thousands of dollars and come with other perks, including private transportation from guests’ hotels.
Tessa Headrick, a mother of two from Crossville, Tenn., is considering purchasing Premier Passes for her family when they visit Disney World for two days in late November.
Headrick, a small-business owner, says her goal is efficiency. The family wakes up early to be among the first guests to enter the parks, and they always pay extra for line-skipping services. Headrick hopes Premier Pass frees her from constantly checking her phone to monitor wait times.
“I’m looking forward to using it, and it actually feeling like a vacation,” she says.
Chris Edwards, a 40-year-old from Winter Park, Fla., who works in corporate marketing, canceled his annual passes to Disney World last year. (Annual passholders get perks including free parking and merchandise and dining discounts.) Edwards and his wife didn’t pay for other expedited-line products and, as a result, they spent too much time in lines.
“For the standard user that’s going to Disney, it now feels like it’s almost a tax you have to pay if you want to enjoy your time,” he says.
Travelers have more options for expedited screening programs. More than 20 million people, a record, are enrolled in TSA PreCheck, the Transportation Security Administration says. The cost of Global Entry, which grants approved fliers faster entry to the U.S. from abroad for five years, increased to $120 from $100 in October.
Some also turn to Clear, an expedited security screening lane, for $199 annually.
Ben Harrell, Booking.com’s U.S. managing director, points to early hotel check-in as one of the perks travelers don’t mind splurging on, citing a recent survey by the travel site. Americans will pay more readily than travelers from other countries, he says.
Richard Rogers travels often for work as owner of a software company. The 57-year-old from Vancouver, Wash., encounters more early check-in fees at hotels. A hotel in Washington, D.C., once tried charging him $75 to check in two hours early, even with his room ready.
“If we’re gonna price people out of traveling and it’s going to become like an elite industry, then what’s the use?” he says.
Whether travelers should pony up depends on trip length and their overall financial situation, industry watchers say.
“That’s always the biggest question: finance or convenience?” says Trish Smith, a Kansas City, Mo.-based travel adviser.
Since 2019, sales of skip-the-lines travel experiences have increased more than five times, online marketplace GetYourGuide says. Some of the most popular places to skip the line include the Pantheon in Rome and the Empire State Building observation deck in New York, the company says.
Other companies are turning to subscriptions. Vail Resorts rolled out gear membership for 12 resorts this season. The My Epic Gear program costs $50 to join per person for a ski season. It allows members to get higher-end gear delivered to them and picked up slopeside, so they don’t need to bring their own or stand in line for rentals. Vail charges adults $55 per use in the U.S., and $45 for kids ages 3 to 12.
Bo-Yun Liu, a 38-year-old in tech sales from New York City, recently considered signing up for the gear membership because he likes testing high-quality rentals. He decided against it because he felt fine bringing his own gear. Once his family grows and more people need skis, he will reconsider.
In the meantime, Liu spends extra for convenience with Global Entry.
He says: “Life is too short to be spent waiting in line all the time.”
Headrick, a small-business owner, says her goal is efficiency. The family wakes up early to be among the first guests to enter the parks, and they always pay extra for line-skipping services. Headrick hopes Premier Pass frees her from constantly checking her phone to monitor wait times.
“I’m looking forward to using it, and it actually feeling like a vacation,” she says.
Chris Edwards, a 40-year-old from Winter Park, Fla., who works in corporate marketing, canceled his annual passes to Disney World last year. (Annual passholders get perks including free parking and merchandise and dining discounts.) Edwards and his wife didn’t pay for other expedited-line products and, as a result, they spent too much time in lines.
“For the standard user that’s going to Disney, it now feels like it’s almost a tax you have to pay if you want to enjoy your time,” he says.
Travelers have more options for expedited screening programs. More than 20 million people, a record, are enrolled in TSA PreCheck, the Transportation Security Administration says. The cost of Global Entry, which grants approved fliers faster entry to the U.S. from abroad for five years, increased to $120 from $100 in October.
Some also turn to Clear, an expedited security screening lane, for $199 annually.
Ben Harrell, Booking.com’s U.S. managing director, points to early hotel check-in as one of the perks travelers don’t mind splurging on, citing a recent survey by the travel site. Americans will pay more readily than travelers from other countries, he says.
Richard Rogers travels often for work as owner of a software company. The 57-year-old from Vancouver, Wash., encounters more early check-in fees at hotels. A hotel in Washington, D.C., once tried charging him $75 to check in two hours early, even with his room ready.
“If we’re gonna price people out of traveling and it’s going to become like an elite industry, then what’s the use?” he says.
Whether travelers should pony up depends on trip length and their overall financial situation, industry watchers say.
“That’s always the biggest question: finance or convenience?” says Trish Smith, a Kansas City, Mo.-based travel adviser.
Since 2019, sales of skip-the-lines travel experiences have increased more than five times, online marketplace GetYourGuide says. Some of the most popular places to skip the line include the Pantheon in Rome and the Empire State Building observation deck in New York, the company says.
Other companies are turning to subscriptions. Vail Resorts rolled out gear membership for 12 resorts this season. The My Epic Gear program costs $50 to join per person for a ski season. It allows members to get higher-end gear delivered to them and picked up slopeside, so they don’t need to bring their own or stand in line for rentals. Vail charges adults $55 per use in the U.S., and $45 for kids ages 3 to 12.
Bo-Yun Liu, a 38-year-old in tech sales from New York City, recently considered signing up for the gear membership because he likes testing high-quality rentals. He decided against it because he felt fine bringing his own gear. Once his family grows and more people need skis, he will reconsider.
In the meantime, Liu spends extra for convenience with Global Entry.
He says: “Life is too short to be spent waiting in line all the time.”
